On "To Catch a Thief": A Book Review

Due to what turned out to be a rather crummy past week, I didn’t get this up yesterday and am therefore antedating it to August since I'm only one day off. 

Title: To Catch a Thief

Author: David Dodge

Genre: Thriller, Romance

About the book…

Published in 1952, To Catch a Thief opens with retired thief John Robie, formerly known as Le Chat, receiving a visit from the French police. He, however, is not in the mood to receive them and escapes out the window determined to clear his name in a recent slew of burglaries committed in a style similar to his own. Getting on a bus, though, little does he know that the only other person on it, the elegantly dressed and very wealthy Francie Stevens will play a key role in his attempts to make this happen. 

In writing this, David Dodge was inspired in part by true events and his own trip to the French Riviera. This book served as a basis for Alfred Hitchcock’s 1955 movie To Catch a Thief starring Cary Grant and Grace Kelly. 

What I think…
To Catch a Thief is a movie that easily falls into my top favorites of the 50’s (something I mentioned before here) and this book doesn’t disappoint either. 

There are differences between the book and movie as is expected, but much of the storyline is the same. One thing that I really like about the book is that it focuses on the backstory of Robie and his relationship with some of the other characters. 

The ending is drawn out in a good way, providing a backstory for the thief and wrapping the overall story up in a satisfactory way. 

As with other similar novels of this time, in particular the noirs, the writing is somewhat blunt and straightforward. This works well with the pacing of the novel, though, and the build up to the conclusion. 

To sum it all up… 
A great read whether you’re a fan of 50’s mystery suspense novels, the Hitchcock movie, or books set in the French Riviera.♥ 

On Another Liebster Award!

In July, Phyl from Phyllis Loves Classic Movies sweetly nominated me for a Liebster award. Here are my answers to her fantastic movie themed questions:

1. If you could pick any film home to live in which one would it be? You can also pick a summer home if you need to ;) 
This is tricky. Narrowing it down to two, either the country house in Christmas in Connecticut or Bunny’s apartment in Desk Set. For a summer house, of which I am capable of picking just one, Gull Cottage from The Ghost and Mrs. Muir.

2. Film you've discovered in the past year that you are obsessed with? 
For about a week I was a slightly obsessed with British movie The Island of Terror. Weird attacking creatures that look like a cross between a vacuum and starfish and appear to have noodles coming out of them when they split are incredibly amusing.

3. Name an actor/actress you've recently discovered that you've been "binge-watching", or in other words, watching and reading everything you can on them. 
It’s been a while since I’ve binge watched any particular movie star. I think the last one might have been Vincent Price since they had a mini-marathon of the American International Pictures movies, which then inspired me to watch a few with him that I own.

4. What film do you love all the costumes in? 
High Society!

5. What actor/actress do you wish you looked like? 
While there’s no one I particularly wished I looked like, I do tend to be envious of certain actresses hairstyles.

6. If you could change the ending of a film, which film would it be and how would it end (here's your chance to help somebody live!)? 
Oooh, hard one! Somewhat a silly choice, but I’d change the end of My Fair Lady, so Pickering doesn’t just disappear after going to search for Eliza.

7. What classic movie set do you wish had been preserved (not the house you chose above)? 
The house in The Philadelphia Story complete with the guest house.

8. If you were stranded on an island (with a TV and DVD player that were solar-powered of course), what 10 movies would you want to have with you (any decade)? 
Mr. Blandings Builds his Dream House, To Catch a Thief, Desk Set, Wife vs. Secretary, Paris When It Sizzles, Pinocchio, My Fair Lady, Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1933), The Time Machine (1960), and The Black Swan (the 1942 pirate movie, not the modern ballerina one). 

Comedies, musicals, a mystery, an animation, a sci-fi, and a swashbuckler, which all together span four decades…if only I could take The Three Musketeers too!

9. What question would you like to ask Robert Osborne? 
 Assuming it didn’t have to be about a movie, if he could pick any other area to be an expert in what would it be?

10. What decade would you have liked to be a movie star in and why? 
The 50’s! The costuming by far!

11. Favorite movie quote. 
I have way too many favorites to come up with just one! To list a couple…

The knights gathering flowers part from Camelot:

Arthur-…this is the season for gathering flowers.
Lancelot-Knights? Gathering FLOWERS?!?
Arthur- Well, SOMEONE has to do it!

The part from Father Goose where Leslie Caron wants to know if her blood is too salty after experiencing a “snake bite” and Cary Grant has to suck out the venom.

And from The Bishop’s Wife:  

Dudley (Cary Grant)- We all come from our own little planets. That’s why we’re all different. That’s what makes life interesting. 

My 11 Facts

1. I get bored and sometimes paint my nails on each foot differently. A few months ago I had a watermelon on one big toe and a bunch of bananas on the other. Currently one foot has green and the other purple.

2. I’ve never sent a text message! 

3. While I adore I Capture the Castle, of the other three books Dodie Smith wrote for adults I’ve read, I only liked one.

4. Eight t-shirts with Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland/Through the Looking-Glass illustrations and two with images from the ’51 Disney movie are in constant rotation in my wardrobe.

5. Despite preferring McCall patterns, I have more Simplicity patterns. This is in part due to the three shoeboxes worth I’ve been given consisting primarily of Simplicity. 

6. Currently, my favorite short film is “Sunny and Steve: Enjoy the Sweets”.
7. I have yet to sew anything pre-1940’s.

8. I have the tendency to want to decorate things. Walls, cakes, tables, trees, chairs…you name it and I’ll find a way to decorate it.

9. While I can usually handle the sound of nails on a chalkboard, it does not bother me as much as the sound (or feel) of nails scraping against corrugated cardboard. 

10. In movies with Ginger Rogers there’s always at least one thing she wears that I wish I could have.

11. Unlike a lot of people, I don’t mind when books or movies have an unhappy ending.

Sticking with the movie theme (and the pre-70’s restriction) here are my questions, which I’m opening to anyone…

1. Given the opportunity to interview one classic Hollywood star, who would it be?

2. You wake up to find you’re stuck in a musical! Which one is it?

3. Which actor’s/actress’s wardrobe would you love to have? (movie or real life)

4. If you could invite any five people-meaning actors, actresses, directors, set designers, costumers, etc.-to a party who would you invite?

5. What is your favorite book to movie adaption? 

6. What classic movie do think should never be remade?

7. Favorite Hitchcock? 

8. What’s the best movie scene involving a train?

9. Favorite holiday movie?

10. Given the opportunity to have a particular prop from a movie, what would it be?

11. Which decade are most of your favorite movies from? 

Thanks again for nominating me, Phyl! ♥

On Fox Hapiness: A Photo Post

My new socks with foxes wearing sockses! Yay!

And for when I have time again, fabric with foxes in fedoras to be made into the skirt of a sleeveless shirtwaist dress. 

You've now reached the end of the rhyming and alliterative Photo Post...which is itself an alliteration. ♥